Could you use the mast-and-cantilever model for other types of architectural structures, whether those are single-family houses – whole cul-de-sacs lined with modernist billboard homes! – or even restaurants and public libraries?

The Single Hauz shows how beautiful the effect could be.

What about the commercial potential? These pictures don't show the building actually being used as a billboard, but why not? You could pay for your housing by collecting advertising revenue.

Or perhaps the house could be a blog, covered in plasma-screen, with a column of advertising on the right, and new text appearing, typed up fresh by the resident of the billboard-house... BillboardHouseBlog.

ALSO: It taps into that part of us that imagines we'd like to live in a treehouse... or that likes to think about pillar saints, like Simeon Stylites:

This first pillar was little more than four meters high, but his well-wishers subsequently replaced it with others, the last in the series being apparently over 15 meters from the ground. At the top of the pillar was a platform, with a baluster, which is believed to have been about one square metre....

Edward Gibbon in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire describes Simeon's existence as follows:

In this last and lofty station, the Syrian Anachoret resisted the heat of thirty summers, and the cold of as many winters. Habit and exercise instructed him to maintain his dangerous situation without fear or giddiness, and successively to assume the different postures of devotion. He sometimes prayed in an erect attitude, with his outstretched arms in the figure of a cross, but his most familiar practice was that of bending his meagre skeleton from the forehead to the feet; and a curious spectator, after numbering twelve hundred and forty- four repetitions, at length desisted from the endless account. The progress of an ulcer in his thigh might shorten, but it could not disturb, this celestial life; and the patient Hermit expired, without descending from his column.

Even on the highest of his columns, Simeon was not withdrawn from the world. If anything, the new pillar drew even more people, not only the pilgrims who had come earlier but now sightseers as well. Simeon made himself available to these visitors every afternoon... In contrast to the extreme austerity that he demanded of himself, his preaching conveyed temperance and compassion, and was marked with common sense and freedom from fanaticism.

A friend of mine, who lived in Pasadena, took her garage. And, rented out the space she created. It had a small kitchen. And, a smaller bathroom. Maybe, even a wall and door to create a small bedroom. It wasn't legal.

When she sold that house she had to take out the kitchen sink and stove, I think. The city sent an inspector. And, you needed to pass this, before your house could officially be sold. (The bathroom, I think, is allowed. As would be a washer/dryer.)

But for my friend it was monthly income. She was a stay-at-home mom. Her husband still has the first nickel he ever earned. And, parking her car, outside, on a private street, broke no laws.

When she went to sell, she had already built a second apartment on top of her garage. And, this, she explained to the man who bought her home ... gave him a way to pay his mortgage. And, so a home on a not very desirable block, had a wonderful selling feature.

As long as you create space with plumbing. And, electricity. You don't need very much space to have space others would pay to rent.

The worst part of "building in the woods" ... is theft. Locals would see "new stuff" ... and you wouldn't have your cozy retreat when you returned to it.

I've been following the prefab house idea for a while and there are many very cool ideas out there.

They just aren't affordable.

They're affordable in concept. They're affordable in the box. They're even affordable delivered -- except for the ones that need a crane for placement. For those you need a host of permits which may cost more than the house. The kit houses, delivered by truck, avoid that problem.

But then you need a contractor. Even if you're your own contractor you need to not need a job for six months.

And then you pay for for a plumber and electrician to hook you up to water and power. That's not a DIY job.

I wish they were more affordable. I like them a lot. These are not ugly at all.

Does anyone remember the Berma Shave jingles? You had to travel the country road ... (This was before our freeways) ... And, Berma Shave did one billboard following another ... It was so clever. But I can't remember even one jingle.

This did seem like a cool idea at first, but I agree with some of the commenters here regarding the more substantial flaws in the design. I love to see alternative housing ideas, and I'm also fascinated by small spaces.

I love the architects. Dream big impractical dreams. Charge your clients hundreds of thousands of dollars for the dream, which turns into a nightmare for the plumber or electrician trying to build the stupid thing. Who gets blamed when the house turns out to be a piece of shit, where the plubming never drains or the water pressure is bad?......not the architect.

DBQ, I just assumed that the plumbing was contained inside the pole. I mean, where else could it be?

Probably so, pumping the water up to the level and keeping pressure would require some heavier lifting, especially if there were a flock of these things.

Contrary to popular belief, when you flush the toilet the poop doesn't just magically disappear.

In addition if the water, sewer and electric is all enclosed in the pole, maintenance is going to be a nightmare. You will probably have to use those 4 year old kids since they will be the only ones small enough to fit inside where the components are located.

Also. Insulating your water supply lines from freezing will be very difficult, expensive and probably impossible in a tube like that.

It taps into that part of us that imagines we'd like to live in a treehouse... or that likes to think about pillar saints, like Simeon Stylites

Really? What part is that?

After watching operations at a small port in the Caribbean for an afternoon, I began to wonder why we couldn't just ship a bunch of empty steel shipping containers to Haiti and let the locals adapt them for dwellings. Much less likely to collapse in future earthquakes, they fit together like Legos and can be locked in place.

If fact there are organizations that have followed that very approach, especially for specialized buildings such as medical offices or clinics.